Expert explains why a non-lethal weapon failed to stop the man during a confrontation with Vancouver police

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The BC Coroners inquest into the death of Darrell Elroy Barnes has heard testimony from a use-of-force expert, explaining why a non-lethal weapon failed to stop the man during a confrontation with Vancouver police.

The 48-year-old was shot and killed by VPD officers on Powell Street on July 22nd of 2011, after six shots from a bean-bag gun failed to stop him.

“There are tools that are there, they help, they’re certainly worthwhile having, but they are not the perfect answer,” says Gregg Gillis, a former Mountie and current member of the transit police force.

“They don’t work 100% of the time.”

He says the same holds true for other non-lethal weapons police use, like batons and pepper spray.

Barnes had a machete and kept lunging at two officers who confronted him, seemingly not phased by repeated strikes from the bean-bag gun.

Gillis says there are three categories of people who can be resistant to non-lethal options, currently in use by police.

“They are somebody that’s either goal-oriented or very focused that’s able to work through the pain stimulus,” he explains. “Six hits in a leg area is not uncommon to see someone work past or work through.”

“Clearly, someone under the influence of drugs or alcohol, where they’re not feeling or perceiving that pain,” he adds.

And the third category: “Somebody who is at a high state of mental crisis, or emotional crisis, that again is not feeling or responding to that pain.”